POV: Sharon Okoye
There was no sleep that night.
Even after Ezekiel disappeared back into the tunnels, even after she and Reina fled the east wing and locked themselves in their shared room, Sharon's heart thudded like a ticking bomb beneath her ribs.
Damian Okoye.
Her uncle. Her protector. Her blood.
A lie.
She sat by the window till dawn broke, shadows carving her face into silence. Reina slept restlessly, muttering fragments in her dreams — "compliance," "subject," "folder eight."
When the bell rang for the first class of the day, Sharon didn't go.
Instead, she walked.
Straight to Damian's office.
---
🪑 The Confrontation
He didn't look surprised to see her. That made it worse.
"Sharon," he said calmly, pushing a file away. "Shouldn't you be in class?"
She didn't answer. She shut the door behind her and dropped the file labeled SUBJECT 08 on his desk.
"Read it," she said. "Out loud. I want to hear you say it."
Damian's gaze flicked to the label. He didn't touch it. His jaw tightened. "Where did you get this?"
"Don't you dare," she snapped. "Don't you dare ask me questions when my entire life was a project file. Who wrote this? Who is Halo-07?"
Damian stood. "That's enough."
Sharon's voice rose. "So it's true."
His silence confirmed it.
She stepped back like he'd struck her. "Was it all fake? Everything? Living with you? Calling you family? Were you just my handler, like the file says?"
He swallowed hard. "It wasn't supposed to go this far. You were only supposed to be monitored until the program shut down."
"Program? What program?" she shouted. "Am I some... experiment?"
Damian lowered his voice. "You were special. You still are. But people were watching you long before I came. I only tried to keep you safe."
"You lied."
"I protected you."
"No," she said coldly. "You managed me."
---
🧪 Meanwhile: The Other Girl
Across campus, in the same hidden surveillance room, the hooded figure removed her mask.
Bianca Osei.
The girl from the science labs. The scholarship student. Quiet. Sharp.
Deadly.
She stared at the footage of Sharon storming from Damian's office.
"She's going to ruin everything," Bianca muttered, fingers flying across a keyboard.
Behind her, the monitors displayed profiles — Reina. Sharon. Ezekiel. Others.
And then one new name blinked red:
> Subject 09: Reina Eze
Status: Unstable
Clearance: Revoked
Bianca smiled faintly. "One by one. They always crack."
---
📚 Reina's Discovery
Back in the library, Reina sat with her tablet, replaying the audio recording from the Archive.
> "Every subject must be linked to a handler..."
She paused. Zoomed in on the audio waveform.
There. Under the static. A second voice. Faint. Almost subliminal.
She enhanced it.
> "...Halo-07… primary ignition not triggered… observe until compliance or activation…"
Her hands shook.
"Primary ignition?" she whispered. "What the hell are they trying to activate?"
---
🔍 New Clues, Old Wounds
That night, Sharon returned to the Archive — alone this time.
She found a second drawer.
PROJECT HALO – Tier 1 Subjects
There were ten folders.
Four were marked terminated. Two were missing. One was Reina.
And one… had no name. Just a barcode and the label: DO NOT OPEN — OBSERVATION ONLY
But she opened it anyway.
Inside:
– An image of her as a baby.
– A genetic sequence.
– A note:
> "Biomarker successfully integrated. Memory suppression intact. Awaiting activation trigger."
She gasped.
Reina wasn't the only one under observation.
She was the experiment.
---
🧠 Flashback: The First Trigger
Suddenly, her head throbbed — sharp, blinding pain. A memory surged forward like a floodgate opening.
White walls. A woman's voice. A needle.
> "She won't remember this. No one ever does."
Then—
> "Keep her close. Keep her quiet."
She fell back against the file cabinet, heart pounding. Her childhood. Her whole life. Fabricated?
Someone had done this to her. And someone else had helped keep it hidden.
---
💡 Final Twist
As Sharon stumbled out into the hallway, she heard footsteps.
She spun—
Reina.
But her friend's eyes were glassy. Unfocused.
"Reina?" she asked.
Reina's mouth opened — and a voice that wasn't hers came out.
> "Subject 09: compromised. Contingency protocol activated."
She collapsed.
Sharon screamed.
---
🔚 End of Chapter Thirty-Three
Highlights:
– Sharon confronts Damian about his betrayal.
– Bianca Osei revealed as the hidden observer.
– Reina marked as unstable.
– The program's origins run deeper.
– Sharon begins unlocking suppressed memories.
– Reina may already be under control.
---
🧨 Coming Up in Chapter Thirty-Four: Ghost Code
– Reina wakes up… but she's not the same.
– Sharon breaks into the biotech lab for answers.
– The truth about Project Halo's original purpose is uncovered.
– One student secretly records Sharon — and reports her to Bianca.